The Misconceptions

Home

1. Skin pigmentation
   • After a vampire feeds their body bloats or swells with blood, giving the skin some color.
   • Werewolves, while in their human form, have a dark coloring to their skin, where the hair should be.
   • Porphyria patients' skin can have a reddish hue, caused by the exposure to sunlight (EPP) or the overproduction of porphyrins in the body.  The skin either darkens or lightens, due to certain types of porphyria.
2. Fear of the sun
   • The sun is deadly to the vampires. When exposed to the sun they are destroyed and turn into ashes. Their skin will blister, crack, and they will bleed to death. Fluorescent lights do not kill vampires.  There are some vampires that are not afraid of the sun at all- it doesn't have any affect on them.
   • When the sun rises werewolf turns back into a humans. Some turn willingly and others are forced to change when the night is over because of  the pain.
   • Sunlight can be dangerous to porphyria patients. Even  fluorescent light can be deadly to CEP patients. Porphyrins absorb large amounts of energy from sunlight,   damaging the heme, and causing photosensitivity. Blistering, cracking of sun exposed skin can result.
3. Excess hair
   • In some country vampires and werewolves are the same being. In Poland it is said that vampires have downy hair on the palm of their hands.
   • Werewolves take the form of a wolf by the full moon. They have hair covering all over their body.
   • In cases of CEP, VP, and PCT there can be excess body and facial hair growth caused by these conditions.  The hair growth is just fine body hair that covers only some part of the body.
4. Classical features
   • Vampires are lean and pale, having either white gleaming fangs or fangs stained with blood after a night of feeding.
   • When Werewolves are transformed into wolves, their hands and feet turn into paws.
   • Porphyria can cause the skin to contract, tightening the face, and body. The face can become angular and the fingers appear longer and pointed, sometime resembling claws. The gums can contract, causing the canine teeth to look elongated.  In CEP the patients can have a reddish stain on their teeth from porphyrin accumulation.  They do not drink blood.
5. What does garlic do?
   • In legends garlic is used to ward off  vampires and other creatures. Vampires are said to either fear garlic or loath it.
   • Garlic is dangerous to porphyria patients because it stimulates the production of   heme.  This can create a toxic situation in the blood causing the porphyria condition to be more severe and painful.

   PORPHYRIA SUFFERERS ARE NOT VAMPIRES OR WEREWOLVES!!!

PREVIOUS